Opioid-related deaths have become an increasing concern for patients with substances use disorders as well as the general public with severe respiratory depression being generally accepted as one of the major factors in opioid-related deaths. Despite this, little testing is done involving the respiratory assessments of conscious animals exposed to fentanyl, limiting the applicability to real world over-dose situations. Because of this, we are developing a test system for assessing potential pharmacotherapies for fentanyl induced respiratory depression and overdose toxicity. Our results present a potential high-throughput test system for assessing medical countermeasures of fentanyl-induced respiratory depression and overdose. This test system allows for real time monitoring in alert and unrestrained animals and is capable of assessing a multitude of prophylactic and rescue pharmaceuticals.

Samuel Vance, MS

Samuel Vance received his Master’s in Toxicology from East Carolina University where he studied the environmental and immunotoxicity of per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances. He has nearly a decade of experience in toxicology and respiratory physiology primarily focused in small animal models. Prior to joining Lovelace Biomedical, Samuel worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency studying the respiratory health effects of military related exposures including burn pit smoke, firearm and explosive particulate matter.